Rick Malboeuf wrote:
When we put our names forward to run for council we knew what the job paid and we agreed to accept the job for that salary. What council did last night was in my opinion ethically and morally wrong.
The average salary increases for the public sector is approx. 2 % while private sector increases have averaged below that or in some cases have been 0. So how can we justify giving ourselves a 15% increase. This increase on top of the 17% increase approved by the previous council means Milton Councillors salary would have increased by more than 35% by the end of this term.
The last election saw 7 new councillors elected, everyone of us at one time or another while we were campaigning criticized the decision of the previous council who gave themselves that 17% raise. Now here we are 18 months later and 4 of those newly elected ( Sharon Barkley was away ) councllors voted in favour of giving themselves a raise. Last night they did exactly what they had criticized previous council of doing. Another example of politicians saying one thing to get elected and doing the opposite after . This is why so many people have such a low opinion of politicians.
As for the argument that if we paid our politicians more we would get better qualified people seeking office. That is an argument that is always used by politicians to justify giving themselves higher than average salaries and benefits. But think about it are the politicians we have today any better than the ones we had 20 years ago ?
When I was first elected to council in 1997 the salary for Milton councillors was a little over 11K with no benefits. With this increase that will become 32K, nearly tripling the salary in less than 15 years. And in my opinion this crop of councillors is no more qualified than the council of 1997, in fact I would suggest that when you compare the overall makeup on council this one is less qualified. The council of 1997 was made up of older more experienced individuals, including an executive from a major bank, a lawyer, a teacher, a marketing executive and self employed business owners. So paying politicians more does not gaurantee a better quality of politicians, in fact it may cause the opposite as more people get involved in politics for the money, rather than the desire to serve.
I am disappointed with the decision of council last night, but not surprised. This is the same council that has approved tax increases at twice the rate of inflation, agreed to buy 3 new buses even though the ones we have are running at 25% capacity, this is the same council that is sending 9 members of council to the AMO conference in Ottawa at $2500 a pop, the City of Burlington is sending 1 we are sending 9 ?
So much for fiscal responsibility.
Rick Malboeuf
Councillor Ward 4
amazing, you take alot of heat here, but just want to say thank you for representing the majority of people's views in this case.
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